Help!!!

[woodenfarm]

I have ten 1 year old flock of ladies.
And I just added seven 3 month almost 4 month old girls to the flock last night when it was dark out. Today the older girls have made them stay out of the coop and shade in the hot heat and no letting them get much water. We have three water areas and two feed areas.
They are also pecking the white Easter eggers feathers out and eating the feathers that come out when they peck them.

I know pecking order is and has to happen but this seems a bit much.

 

[woodenfarm]

Should I move them to another area and have two separate flocks?

 

[bobbi-j]

Did you just get the young ones and put them in, or have they been getting to know each other in a "look but don't touch" situation? That can make a huge difference in integration. How big is your coop in feet by feet? And the run? It can cause problems if a subordinate chicken can't get far enough away from a dominant one. Are there hiding places for the younger ones to get out of sight of the older ones? Sometimes all they need to do is get out of the line of sight for the pecking to stop.

Chickens are very territorial and don't share their resources (space, food and water) very willingly. Lots of extra room is helpful in integration.

 

[aart]

Integration Basics:

It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water).
Existing birds will almost always attack new ones to defend their resources.
Understanding chicken behaviors is essential to integrating new birds into your flock.

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact.

In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best if mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide 'out of line of sight'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.

This used to be a better search, new format has reduced it's efficacy, but still:
Read up on integration..... BYC advanced search>titles only>integration
This is good place to start reading, BUT some info is outdated IMO:

 

[Ridgerunner]

Should I move them to another area and have two separate flocks?

Yes, until you can set up for a proper integration. Or maybe to get your expectations in line with what should be happening. I don't know how much cause there is for concern.

On the feather picking. Usually it is one instigator though others may later join in. Can you identify a specific hen causing the problem? Also, at that age they may be going through a juvenile molt. It's not unusual for a chicken to eat a loose feather floating around, that's free protein. If it is just them eating feathers from a molt, no big deal. If one or more are plucking feathers to eat, yeah that's a problem. My suggestion is to lock the instigator up for about a week and see how the others get along without her. Sometimes that is all it takes to break a bad habit. Sometimes.

The other stuff you describe sounds perfectly normal when you have mixed aged chickens, even if they are fully integrated. The immature ones are normally going to form a separate sub-flock and avoid the older as much as they can because they just might get pecked if they invade the older ones' personal space. That's why Bobbi wants to know, in feet, how much room you have for 17 chickens in the coop and run. Do the younger really have enough room to get way from the older ones and avoid them? How can you set up to provide room? Photos of your facilities can help come up with specific suggestions.

There are several generic recommendations for integrating, when you have mixed age chickens those can be even more important. Generally these include housing the two groups across wire so they can get used to each other. How far apart are your food/water stations, the further the better. How much room do they have and what is the quality of that room? It's not just square feet, it's can they get away from and avoid the adults? Having things to hide behind, under, or over can improve the quality of your room.

Part of the expectations is that as long as they are not hurting each other they are doing OK. With feather picking I'm not sure that is your case. But even with chicks fully integrated it is perfectly normal for the chicks to be in the coop if the adults are in the run. If they are locked in the coop together, the chicks may be on the roosts when the adults are on the coop floor. They are not going to fully merge into one flock until the young mature enough. Usually with pullets that's around the time they start to lay.